Match holder



March 21, 1939. w. c. JONES 2,151,116

I MATCH HOLDER Original Filed May 20, 1935 Patented Mar. 21, 1939 MATCH Roman WilburO. Jones, Washington, D. C.

Application May 20, 1935, Serial No. 22,460 Renewed September 10, 1938 2 Claims. (01. 206-29) So-called book matches are commonly made of several slitted sheets of cheap paper or a fibrous composition with the free ends'provided with a fire producing coating, and the assembled sheets 5 secured at one end by a staple to and within a flexible casing or holder, one end of said holder being turned over upon the integral portions of the sheets and the exposed surface of the turned over end portion coated with abrasive material. 1 The free end of the casing is bent through an arc of 190 over the heads of the matches and the edge thereof inserted beneath the edge of the material having the abrasive material thereupon. This bent-over end of the casing constitutes an 15 openable cover, and when opened and a match is torn from its sheet the match is often struck while the cover remains open and thefiame is transmitted to the assembled matches, resulting in burning the hand or, if the holder is dropped,

20 igniting whatever it may engage.

To prevent such accidents, and also to hold the cover more securely in place when closed, I have devised a casing or holder wholly or partly of resilient material wherein the abrasive material is 25 placed upon the surface of the openable cover adjacent to its free edge and preferably provided the said edge with a turned-over part constituting a hook which, when the cover is closed, laps over the opposite end of the casing or holder, or a 30 portion thereof. As the material of the casing is of resilient or yielding material, the hooked edge of the cover may easily be sprung into and out of engagement, and tosecure a substantially rigid foundation for striking the match the cover 35 must previously be closed, which obviates the danger of transmitting the flame to the interior of the casing or holder and igniting the remaining matches. The invention consists in certain novelties of 40 construction, and in the combination of parts as herein set forth and claimed.

The accompanying drawing illustrates two slightly diflerent main examples of the embodiments of the invention and one modification, the

45 same disclosing the best modes of procedure I;

have so far devised for the purpose."

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the holder with the cover' closed, the dotted lines indicating the position of the cover when partly open.

' Figures 2 and 3 show a slightly modified em- 55 view in elevation.

,Figures 4 and 5 show the modification, Figure 4 being a front view of the holder in elevation and Figure 5 an edge view, the dotted lines indicating the cover when partly open. I

The numeral I designates the back or base of 5 the casing or holder, and 2 the cover in all the views, the SamQ'COIISiStiIIg of resilient cardboard or other suitable material preferably in one piece bent over through an angle of 190 with the material at the bend normally under tension to hold the cover in place when closed and to permit shifting the cover relatively to the base, or vice versa, to open the same.

The edge of the base 3 is turned over, formassembled sheets of matches which are held in "place by a wire staple 5, as indicated.

In all the views 6 designates the turned-over or hooked edge of the cover, which hook, when the cover is closed, frictionally engages the i'naterial of the base. This turned-over edge of the cover may be stiffened by glue or shellac or otherwise reinforced so it will maintain its hooked shape under all conditions of service. In Figure 1 the hook is curved to Iap over the entire end of the base. In Figures 2 and 3 the material of the base and the turned-over part 3 is slightly extended and pressed together to form a relatively sharp edge 1 for more securely holding the hooked edge of the cover in place. In Figures 4 and 5 a hooked edge 8 is provided at the edge of the turned-over edge 3 of the base so as to interlock with the hooked portion at the edge of the cover.

The abrasive material 9, clearly shown by Figure 1, and indicated in Figure 3 by the arrowhead, preferably is applied to the cover adjacent the hooked portion thereof, whereby an extremely firm foundation is provided for striking amatch only when the cover is closed. This location of 40 the abrasive material insures that the cover will be closed when the match is struck, and thus the transmission of the flame to the inclosed matches obviated.

The flexibleor resilient material at the curved portion l0 obviously allows the cover to be bodily shifted relatively to the base, or vice versa, to lock or unlock the cover.

From the foregoing description taken with the illustrations it will be clear that 'I have provided an improved match holder of the species indicated, wherein the danger of igniting the inclosed matches is prevented when a detached match is ignited, and wherein the cover is more securely held in position when closed.

What I claim is:

1. A match-book comprising a match-card co sisting of a stub and attached matches, and a coyer folded over the ends of the matches with substantially flat sides and flexible in the foldover portion which has one end attached to the stub and forming the bound end of the matchbook and has the other'end of substantially the at. the fold.

2; A match-book comprising a match-card consisting of a stub and attached matches, and a cover folded over the ends of the matches with substantially flat sides and flexible in the foldover portion which has one end attached to the stub and forming the bound end of the matchbook and has the other end'of substantially the width of the match-book and curved to form an integral still catch engaging the bound end and held in engagement by the elasticity of the cover at the fold, the exposed surface of said curved 1 WILBUR C. JONES. 

